Chinese national Hu Congtai, who entered Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir in violation of his visa, has been deported to Hong Kong, officials said on Thursday.

The decision to deport and blacklist the 29-year-old followed a forensic examination of his mobile phone, which revealed that he had visited places of strategic importance in Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir, they added.

"The Chinese national who was detained here last week has been sent to Delhi on the evening of 10th December for onward deportation to Hong Kong," the officials said.

Hu had arrived in Delhi on November 19 on a tourist visa that allowed him to visit Buddhist religious sites in Varanasi, Agra, New Delhi, Jaipur, Sarnath, Gaya, and Kushi Nagar.

However, he boarded a flight to Leh the next day and did not register at the Foreigners Regional Registration Office counter at the Leh airport.

He was detained after an army unit noticed unusual chatter online. Officials discovered that his browsing history indicated an interest in the deployment of paramilitary forces in the Kashmir Valley, prompting them to investigate his visit to the strategically sensitive Zanskar region in Ladakh late last month.

During his stay in Ladakh, Hu toured the Zanskar region for three days, visiting several sensitive locations before arriving in Srinagar on December 1, the officials said.

During questioning, Hu said that he had lived in the United States for nine years, where he studied physics at Boston University, and that he loved to travel.

He also claimed ignorance about the visa violation, stating he was unaware that he was restricted from traveling to Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir and had to strictly adhere to the places listed on his visa, the officials said.

Hu leveraged his resemblance to locals to board a flight to Leh on November 20 without registering at the Foreigners Regional Registration Office counter. According to officials, he had also obtained an Indian SIM card from the open market.

While in Srinagar, Hu stayed at an unregistered guest house and visited a Buddhist religious site in Harwan, a location where a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist had been killed in an encounter last year.

Officials, citing data extracted from his phone, said he also visited the Awantipur ruins in South Kashmir, near the army’s Victor Force headquarters, as well as other areas of Srinagar, including Shankracharya Hills, Hazratbal, and Mughal Gardens along Dal Lake.

His phone browsing history revealed searches related to CRPF deployments and Article 370 of the Constitution, which was abrogated in August 2019, ending the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the officials said.

Hu’s passport shows prior travel to several countries, including the United States, New Zealand, Brazil, Fiji, and Hong Kong.